Devotional thoughts for God’s Family – 1
Please read Genesis chapter one.
How are you with the word….need?
Can you think of any thing that you need? There are some easy ones like food and water, right? Yes, this would be a physical need. Not any question about that, or that God has made us needy of physical things and God supplies our needs too.
In Genesis chapter one we see that God made man and God met man’s physical needs by making all of the plants and animals on the earth. We can thank God for this because there is a lot of things on the earth to eat.
Take a moment and think about your favorite meal that you have ever had. Really, I want you to do this. But take into consideration not simply the food, but where were you? Who were you with? And what was the circumstance that made it so good for you?
Today, my favorite meal would be what Karen makes on thanksgiving. Once a year she makes beef Wellington. The choice of meat and all of the ingredients make a wonderful meal. Several years ago, we had a couple of dozen people who came to the house for thanksgiving and we shared turkey and beef Wellington together. All of the fellowship and the great food that everyone brought made it quite an experience.
“Ah, pastor, I don’t care about food, I just eat what is in front of me and that’s it.” Ok, well today we can broaden your horizon a touch – and believe me, what we are talking about today lays a foundation that may change the way that you see scripture as a whole.
Because, how you see scripture determines how you live your life. If you see scripture as a manual to teach you how not to sin, or simply what is right and what is wrong, then my friend you are going to walk in legalism in this life, and that is bondage.
However, if you see scripture as a letter from God introducing you to His Son Jesus, and Jesus then being our introduction to the Father, that’s accurate. If you also see the love of the Father and the high price He paid to have a relationship with you, you are certainly hitting the mark. If, you were to go further and see in scripture the condition we all have that separates us from God, that makes us all fallen and in sin, well then my friend, that’s a bull’s eye.
God made you – do you believe that? He made you with a physical body and that body get’s hungry for various things. He made you to enjoy the earth, “be fruitful and multiply.”
“Pastor where are you going with this?”
We are going to build up in the days to come. So we must build a foundation. I want you to agree that the things I am sharing with you are true. I am not using slight of hand or am I going to mince words. That’s not my style.
God made you a physical being – no doubt. God meets your physical needs and you can trust him to do so. Understand that your body is a major part of who you are. Even though this body will not be our eternal body, we have to take care of it. We do this by understanding what needs are and meeting those needs.
We also understand the difference between needs and wants. The sooner that we tackle this issue in our life, the sooner we will have control over food. So often our body screams NEED, and we know in our heart that it is simply a want. Having the power to say yes and no to food is very important.
What we want to put into our body is a good thing, especially considering that God gave to us the whole earth to derive food. God wants us to experience what He made for us and enjoy it. But we can’t do that to the exclusion of moderation.
1 Corinthians 6:19–20 (ESV): Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, 20 for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.
God made you needy of food. But we can let food control us if we are not diligent. Jimmy Buffet (not known for his biblical wisdom) uses this lyric in one of his songs, “You treat your body like a temple and I treat my body like a tent.”
That is funny, but it might also be true.
As we are laying a foundation for deeper truths, I thought I would stop along this journey and touch on a subject that is difficult for some, our bodies.
Can you say a prayer this morning thanking the Lord for the way He made you?
Father, we are grateful that You made plants and animals for us to eat. We acknowledge that all food comes from You. We also clearly see that You have made us each needy of more than just food. We need air, shelter and many other things. We don’t often look at these things or thank You for them the way that we do with food. Never-the-less, we are grateful for how You meet our physical needs so consistently. And in the places of our lives that You think we are out of balance, we humbly ask that we would be lead to alignment with You on these issues. Thank You Father for being so kind. In Jesus –
Maybe you could ask the Lord today with pen and paper, “Lord, is there anywhere in my physical life that You would like me to change?” Don’t be swept into guilt and shame, just agree with God about it and let His power work in you. His power always starts with your agreement with Him. Don’t commit to being perfect, commit to agreeing with God first. He will give you the power to change, if that is what you need today. It all comes back to need my friend. The pen and paper is to write down what you hear.
Devotional thoughts for God’s Family – 2
Please take a moment and read Genesis chapter two
So, we see Adam eating very well, happy as he can be in the garden. His physical needs are met. God made most everything edible in the world (I mean who would want to eat an armadillo or a salamander? Please if you do, don’t tell me.) and Adam eats it, pretty easy to understand. That’s kinda how I operate too.
From a physical standpoint he had the perfect situation.
- Adam had all the food he could ever need. (Everything grew perfectly)
- Adam had the best boss in the world. (God was his supervisor)
- Adam had the best job in all the world. (Farmer: nothing died, no sand spurs, mildew, mold… Zoo keeper: animals wouldn’t eat him or each other, didn’t need cages, nothing would bite him.)
Also, think about this, Adam had the best relationship with God any human has ever had. This is a new thought for us. I am introducing a different kind of need.
Not only did Adam have physical needs, he also had spiritual needs. In the same way that Adam had to have food and water, air and shelter, Adam also needed a relationship with God. That is how God made Adam.
So Adam was needy of physical things and we find too that he is needy of spiritual things as well. God and man together – on earth; God enjoying fellowship with man and man enjoying fellowship with God.
No sin.
Take note of this, there was a time before sin when man existed with God. Man was completely needy of all that God provided. I think for those of you who wonder what life will be like in heaven, use your imagination to see into the first few chapters of Genesis and you can see what we lost and what we will reclaim through the wonderful grace of God.
The spiritual need that Adam had was to be in a relationship with God – do you understand? God was there in the garden with Adam and the space inside of Adam that God made for Adam to be close to God was directly filled by God.
You and I, actually every person on earth has that same place made by God that looks for God. Unfortunately, man looks in so many other places to make a god. It doesn’t matter one bit if a person screams, “I have no gods in my life, I am my own god!” They will look for a god and each person will find one. Anything can be a god in a person’s life. Contrary to what they say or think, a person can commit themselves to so many things” work, tv, money, flesh, etc… How sad it will be for people to find themselves in hell over a tv show or a bank account.
These things are not wicked or sinful – they are simply things, the issue is how the lost person glorifies and worships things in their life. Whatever you love the most, and commit to the most, will become a god. Without a knowledge of Jesus you would do the same, and you would also be held accountable for it, just like a majority of people on earth will.
It is sad to think about – and it hurts my heart to think of my neighbors and friend, the people I pass in the aisles at stores, all making gods out of things in this world and not the one true God.
God made all people to be blessed in a relationship with Him.
We all were made needy of God. As you know, that relationship starts through faith in Jesus and the message of God’s love that He brought to earth.
You are physically needy and you are spiritually needy.
So, friend we are building a foundation. There is probably no surprise for you up to this point we are made needy by God for God.
Let’s thank the Lord for this.
Lord, the way that You have made us is marvelous. So many people with commonalities and differences, so beautiful. We truly are blessed to be Your creation. Help us Lord to understand what we need to so that we can appreciate Your plans and purposes for mankind. Lord, we thank You for always meeting our needs according to Your riches in Christ Jesus. Amen
Devotional thoughts for God’s Family – 3
Please read Genesis 3
Adam was perfectly needy.
Sounds strange doesn’t it? Adam was made with weaknesses, built in weaknesses, by God. When we think of the word perfect, we assume that what that means is self-sufficient and independent. In our world, perfect things stand alone and above everything else.
Please contemplate this, God made Adam perfectly weak – there is no other option. Does God make things that are weak? Can God really do that? Have you ever held a hamster or a bunny?
Even when you get to heaven you will be perfectly weak. There is a simple reason for this, God is the Creator and you are the creature. As the creature you will be eternally dependent upon the Creator.
That’s what makes so absurd the pining of Lucifer to usurp Jehovah to be God himself.
Isaiah 14:12–15 (ESV): How you are fallen from heaven, O Day Star, son of Dawn! How you are cut down to the ground, you who laid the nations low! 13 You said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; above the stars of God I will set my throne on high; I will sit on the mount of assembly in the far reaches of the north; 14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’ 15 But you are brought down to Sheol, to the far reaches of the pit.
The end game of his rebellion could never happen. He assumed that He could exist without God and it is absolutely one hundred percent impossible for any creature to exist without God. To wish to be above God is to be without God. If God were to be gone or not exist, neither would any of His creations. God has never not existed, He has always existed and Jehovah will exist forever, and we who are His saints will as well.
There is nothing that God has created that is totally self sufficient and able to stand alone. Everything He has created is dependent upon Him. So, my friend, you will always be needy of the Creator’s presence. That makes my heart rest when I say that. Because I don’t want to be in any existence where my Father is not.
Everything He says to believe and do is good because He knows. Even when I can’t understand or do it, I want to, because I know it is good.
I want to finish this morning by reminding you that we are building a foundation as we progress in our thought. We have established that Jehovah made man needy. And so far, we have two sets of needs that existed in Genesis chapter two, physical and spiritual.
It would be good for us to be Captain Obvious for a moment. Genesis two truly comes before Genesis three. In ch 3 is the fall of man and we often attribute neediness to fallenness. In other words, the reason why I need as much as I do is because there is something wrong with me. And if I could be a better person I would need so much.
No, the reason why you need so much is because God made you perfectly needy! There is no sin in that at all and it is highly dangerous to put the two together. You will walk in condemnation (self and directed at others) your whole life if you believe that your needs are born in your falseness.
From an anthropological view point, man has two conditions that were formed in the garden of Eden. We are all accustomed to one of them and if you have been in church any amount of time and have listened you know that in the garden we acquired the condition of being fallen (Genesis 3).
Also, before there was ever sin Adam had another condition that is clearly presented in Genesis chapter two. Do you know what that is? We have been talking about in for a few days. Yep, man is needy. Man was first needy and then man became fallen. We all have those two conditions today.
Unfortunately, we have become experts it the field of fallenness and often bypassed the truth that we are needy. We even smash the two together and call them the same thing. We make the assumption that if we live a sin free life that we won’t need anything. This is simply not true. Or we believe that the most mature Christians are those that are self-sufficient and don’t need anyone. Another erroneous belief, deception actually. Because we know that God has made us needy.
This is so important to understand and to actuate in your life, I want to finish here and pray because tomorrow is the show stopper. Tomorrow we begin to walk in revelation. Not the book of Revelation, but personal revelation. Since day one we have been building a foundation and now I want to build the house that God intends for you to live in.
Father in Heaven, thank you for making us the way that you have. We are blessed to know that You made us needy and You meet all of our needs. Please instruct us with truth that can transform our lives to be saints that draw the lost to you. We are Your children and we praise You for that great gift that came through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.
Devotional thoughts for God’s Family – 4
Genesis 2:18 (ESV): Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.”
Well now, we have an issue. There seems to be another set of needs that God is emphatically presenting to mankind in Genesis chapter two. And I believe it is for good reason that He is doing so.
We have waded through spiritual and physical needs. Now it seems that in Genesis 2:18 God is presenting to us a need that does not pertain to spiritual or physical aspects of who we are.
He said, “It is not good that man should be alone.”
So as much as we need food and water, and Him, we need each other.
So maturity isn’t the ability to be self-sustaining after all.
I recognize that we are cognizant of our physical needs, and spiritual too. If we were to sit together and discuss this very topic, I believe that you could articulate quite well your needs, but what about your relational needs?
Yes, relational. When the Lord says that it is not good for man to be alone, God is telling us that He made us in such a way that we are going to need Him and others. Have you ever met someone who says that they simply know God and not people? Or they live like they don’t need anybody and they profess a deep connection with God to the exclusion of people?
When I was younger I used to look at people like that with awe and wonder. I used to want to become more like them because they look like the epitome of spiritual life. Now, I look on those very people with sadness and pity.
When God says that it isn’t good, He means it. And there is not one person on the earth that can adequately live outside of God’s design with success. He is adamant about you having human relationship to meet God given needs that He placed inside of you. If that isn’t happening, don’t count that as ascendancy, it is descendancy (I just made up a new word).
I believe in the heart of God it is a woeful to be in no relationship as it is to be in relationship that are outside His plan for our lives. After all, I don’t believe it can be overstated, “It is not good for man to be alone.”
So, have you ever thought about what you need from others? It sounds selfish, but it isn’t selfish if approached in humility and love. We are supposed to be vulnerable and hopeful in the provision of the Lord.
He meets our needs through other people. But if I believe that I don’t have needs and that I am not made needy, I will be in a condition that God calls, “not good.”
This is shorter today, that’s ok. Maybe you can take the extra minute and examine why you have decided that you don’t need others. In most cases we come to that conclusion because of being needy and vulnerable and being hurt by others. That means that we are let down in our hope. We anticipated that a given person was going to meet a need.
The fall (Genesis 3) is the cause of this. People, in their fallenness miss the opportunity to meet your need. And often the result of that is we make conclusions about the world’s ability to meet needs. We close up shop and say, “Well then, I will not be needy and we take to the prayer closet our needs that God intends for people to meet. God does meet your spiritual needs, and He directs others to meet your relational needs.
Perhaps, you could investigate a little this morning. Maybe this could be a day of prospecting into the reasons why you do relationships the way you do them.
Begin by confessing to the Lord the truth of His Word. Declare your neediness to Him, you are spiritually, physically and relationally needy. And ask him to reveal when and why you chose to shut down your relational receiving from others.
Tomorrow we will go into more detail as to the benefits and consequences of these decisions we make.
Lord, we confess our needs. We know that You meet all of our needs. And God, You made us needy to begin with. You are not a God who makes us a certain way and the abandons us to fend for ourselves. You have meticulously send in motion our relationships and our environment to ensure that we are properly fed spiritually, physically and relationally. Thank You so much for Your care for us. All of this being through Your Son Jesus.
Devotional thoughts for God’s Family – 5
Galatians 6:3 (ESV): For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself.
Philippians 4:19–20 (ESV): And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. 20 To our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen.
We are going to move through two algorithms. One on an upward trend that describes God desires for you. And the others is what happens when we go through life without our relational needs being met. This devotional isn’t meant to induce discouragement and sorrow. Rather, to look in to see if some of the struggles I have are self imposed due to a set of beliefs that I have learned that are contrary to what the Bible teaches.
Number one:
Needs – Met – Intimacy = increased: faith, joy, gratitude.
We all have relational needs and when they are met we are drawn closer to the person who meets those needs inside of healthy Godly relationships and to God as we recognize that He is meeting our needs through others.
Recently I visited a church in Texas and had the opportunity to sit amongst pastors from around the country. The conference was wonderful because I could look in and see the various things that other pastors are doing to help their congregations in times of stress and uncertainty. It is both encouraging and humbling to see all that men of God are doing to reach their congregations scattered as they are all across the web. At the last night of this conference at the end of the service with hundreds of people in attendance, my friend and I were invited to sit with the host of the conference for a short talk. We were on our way out of the auditorium talking about Texas tacos when we were asked to stay. This person had been fasting for 3 days and just finished a three day conference and told all of us from platform how much he wanted a cheeseburger. He deserved a good cheeseburger as far as I could tell. But he sat tired and hungry with me and my good friend and showed interest in our ministry and what God was doing. He even leaned in and offered excellent counsel on some of the projects that I have going on.
This man paid attention to me when he had no obligation to do so. And in doing that I felt the need of attention and acceptance being met in me. It felt great – it didn’t cause me to become prideful, just the opposite. I was humbled and I felt so honored. And God spoke through this man and helped in a tight spot I had. I had a need, God met that need through this man and the result in me was gratitude to the man and God, increased faith in God, joy at the knowledge nuggets that I took away.
I needed that and I didn’t even know that I did. Now I have a new friend.
Praise God for experiences where He meets our needs.
Thank You Lord for the watchful care that You provide for us. You are so good to us. You know our needs and provide for us every step of the way in our lives. Thank You so much. All through Jesus!
Can you recall recently anyone that God has used to meet a need in your life? Can you think about that and thank God for it today?
Blessings
Pastor D
